


take a look at the five and ten

by Bluejay141519



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, i mean wow i didnt know i could manage something like this, incredible, theres like two sentences that hint at angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27715553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluejay141519/pseuds/Bluejay141519
Summary: Usually the rule was - if Buck was excited about something, you better get excited about it too, because that thing was all you were going to hear, see, and talk about for the coming weeks or months.Eddie even prides himself on being able to defuse Buck’s excitement should the need arise. Like, say for example when Buck wanted to order a massive bounce house for the station’s coat drive event.He was one click away. Eddie had to sprint upstairs and unplug the router.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 73
Collections: 25 (More) Days Of Buddie





	take a look at the five and ten

**Author's Note:**

> first 9-1-1 fic ever!! I am,,,so nervous lol. I mostly write angst so my fluff is...lacking I feel like. Hopefully you guys enjoy!! only warning is for like three swear words.
> 
> For the prompt "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" :)

Eddie was very aware of his boyfriends ability to get excited. Some might even say his propensity to get over excited. Eddie just assumed it a fact of who Buck is, and didn’t ever attempt to change it. Besides, most of the time Buck’s excitement was a good thing - his excitement spread like wildfire, the same way his laugh or smile did. He was good at convincing people of things, too. 

Usually the rule was this: if Buck was excited about something, you better get excited about it too, because that thing was all you were going to hear, see, and talk about for the coming weeks or months.

Eddie even prides himself on being able to defuse Buck’s excitement should the need arise. Like, say for example when Buck wanted to order a massive bounce house for the station’s coat drive event. 

He was one click away. Eddie had to sprint upstairs and unplug the router.

(And then he pouted for the next hour and a half because  _ “it was a brilliant idea Eddie, you fucked with my vibes”. _

Eddie told him to stop hanging around Chris’s friends so much and made him an apology cake. Buck mostly got over it.)

That said, they’ve been dating for six months. Six months. Got drunk at Bobby’s forth of july party and fell into bed together. Eddie thought it was a disaster, Buck….Buck freaked out for two minutes, right up until Eddie blurted out that he had feelings for Buck. 

And then Buck was as calm as Buck can be, and Eddie suddenly found himself in the happiest relationship he’s ever had. Ever. And he got there on accident.

The moral of the story, however, is that last year, Eddie did not see Buck during Christmas time. 

Or rather. He wasn’t  _ dating  _ Buck during Christmas time. 

He thought he’d seen the most excited Buck could be. He was incorrect on that account. 

“It’s November first!” Eddie yells over Mariah Carey singing her lungs out. He attempts to flip a pancake and accidentally stabs it in the middle. “Thanksgiving is over three weeks away!”

“What does Thanksgiving have to do with anything!?” Buck yells back from the living room. Behind him Chris giggles under a massive pile of tangled lights and garland. 

Eddie sighs and flips the dilapidated pancake onto a plate. “Could you at least turn it down so we don’t have to scream at each other over breakfast?!” 

Thankfully the noise level dims considerably. Buck helps dig Chris out from under Christmas decorations Eddie didn’t even know he had, and together they wander over to two plates already stacked high with wonky looking pancakes. 

Chris instantly sets about drowning his syrup while Buck just spreads butter on the top one, folds it up and stuffs the whole thing in his mouth at once. 

Eddie sips his coffee and scrolls through his phone. “Smaller bites, the both of you.” Chris grins at him with a mouth full of pancake while Buck has the audacity to look offended.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” He mumbles around the pancake.

Eddie gives him a look. “Do I need to remind you about the bread incident?”

Buck stops chewing to squint at him. “That’s low.”

“I liked that restaurant you know, and now we can’t ever go back because you tried to inhale your food-”

“What was the bread incident?” Chris pipes up.

“Nothing!” Buck says hurriedly. Eddie winks at Chris and smiles into his mug as Christ winks back. 

“Chew your food Buck.” He orders, sending Maddie a quick text to see what he’s about to getting into with the Christmas thing.

Buck sends him a dark look and picks up a fork to stab at the next pancake. Eddie takes the win.

**…**

“Maddie it’s November - we aren’t even close to Thanksgiving!”

_ “Honestly, I’m pretty impressed he made it through October. _ ” Maddie says with a laugh in her voice.  _ “He’s pretty serious about Christmas. It used to be the only guaranteed thing that would make him smile.” _

He switches the phone to his other ear and grabs a few rags to start wiping down the truck. “Oh...kay, but I’m not- I mean I celebrate Christmas but it’s a little early.”

There’s a slight pause.  _ “Do you have a serious aversion to it?” _

Eddie sighs. Usually the answer would be yes- he likes Christmas, he does, but for a while it wasn’t a happy time for him - what with being over seas and then after Shannon - it hurt. He also doesn’t exactly understand those people who started celebrating so early. And he can only listen to the same songs so many times. 

But this is  _ Buck _ . And Buck is really excited about it and it’s harmless, really, so...

“I guess not?” He says. 

_ “Great, then deal with it, because it only gets worse after Thanksgiving. He loves this holiday Eddie, and since he’s gonna spend it with you and Chris this season, he’s going to go all out. This is like his ideal Christmas _ .”

“He’s going to get worse?! How is that possible, he’s already started decorating, what else is he going to-” Eddie freezes in the middle of wiping down a door panel. “Oh god I’m going to have to watch hallmark movies.”

_ “Oh yeah,”  _ She says happily. _ “And you’re gonna hear so much Christmas music your ears are gonna bleed. Have fun!!” _

“Wait Maddie- shit.” He says softly, staring at his phone to make sure she did, actually, hang up on him.

“You talking to my sister?”

“What! No! Maybe! Why?” Eddie spins around and answers Buck in a surprised panic. Buck raises an eyebrow at him and Eddie panics some more. “I- we were...colluding. On, uh...something. Yeah.” he winces at the obvious lie, but Buck seems to get...excited?

“You were, were you?” He waggles his eyes brows like an idiot. “Okay,” Buck smiles at him and gives him a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

And then he just. Walks off.

And lets Eddie out of what was a very obvious lie.

Which is extremely confusing until five minutes later he gets a text from Maddie that says  _ ‘my brother now thinks me and you are working together to give him a Christmas present, so we should probably get on that.’ _

Eddie groans and thunks his head against the side of the truck.

**...**

Now when he said that Bucks excitement was spreadable, he really meant it. Contagious, really. And the most susceptible?

Chris. Probably because Buck’s personality was mostly that of a kids’. 

Which mean that two weeks into November, Chris was now begging Eddie to go Christmas shopping, and Eddie had to be the bad guy and explain that he didn’t go Christmas shopping till after Thanksgiving  _ at the earliest _ . 

(Reality said that Eddie usually waited until the absolute last minute to do his shopping, but he still  _ did it _ , okay.)

Then Chris comes back with “No Dad, I mean we have to go shopping for Christmas  _ decorations _ ,” like it’s the most obvious thing in the world and Eddie decides he needs to have a talk with his partner.

“Okay, look I’m not saying that you need to tone it down-”

“Great, because I won’t!” Buck chirps from the living room where he’s hammering nails into the wall. 

Eddie bites his lip. “What are you even-”

“Garland and lights! Oh and I saw these little ornaments that you can make and I thought on our day off me and you and Chris could make them and then I was gonna hit the craft store on the way home from work and get stuff because you have like  _ nothing  _ to decorate this place with.”

“Buck, I...” Eddie starts with an apologetic tone, but then he considers what Maddie told him.  _ ‘It used to be the only thing that made him smile.’ _

“Is this like...a big thing for you?”

Buck turns around and gives him a confused look as he waves a hand around the half decorated apartment.

“Yeah no I meant- like- I get that you get excited about things but why two months out from the big day?”

“First of all, less than fifty days, second of all, it is my absolute favorite time of the year!”

“You didn’t really answer my question.”

Buck steps down from the stool he using to get the nails in the wall. “Do you not like it?” A look of horror spreads across his face. “Shit Eddie do you not celebrate Christmas?! We went to see Santa with Chris last year so I thought- I mean I shouldn’t assume really and I gave you guys gifts but if this stuff makes you uncomfortable I can take it down I-”

“Buck-  _ Buck _ , no it doesn’t bother me,” Eddie says with a wry smile, crossing the room to wrap his arms around Buck. “It doesn’t bother me, I just...don’t get as into it as you do, and this seems...more than your usual energy for something.”

Buck hugs him back with a happy hum before pulling back slightly. “I don’t know I just...I really love the holiday. I always have.” He grins at Eddie. “Let me know if it gets too much.”

“It’s too much.” Eddie says flatly. Buck throws his head back and laughs. 

“You just  _ wait  _ until I get the tree. Oh!  _ and  _ I have big plans for the station this year too, we’re going all the way out, I mean the trucks don’t really need to be in the hanger anyway, its the perfect place for the tree, and then I was thinking for the kitchen…” Buck continues to ramble on about his plans for literally every room in the station. Eddie smiles at him, amused but...curious.

There’s something else here besides just a general love for the season. There’s got to be a  _ reason _ . It’s obviously a good reason, he just needs to figure it out. Because if he can figure it out, then he’ll be able to get Buck the best Christmas present.

You know. When he goes shopping in  _ December _ .

**…**

It hits him on the way home from work when Buck makes him drive up and down the street by their house because some shops have lights up already. 

Actually it hits him a little while later when they get home, because he was more preoccupied with calming his adrenaline fueled heart rate on the way home. Buck had gasped so loud and so suddenly Eddie nearly crashed the car in a panic, only to have Buck scream “ _ Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas, Eddie! _ ”

Because the street the signs had wreathes.

As Buck ran into the house to greet Christopher, Eddie turned the car off and breathed for a minute before texting Maddie. 

_ ‘I’ve got an idea’. _

**…**

“Okay, so you’ll get him out of the house right? And keep him busy - he can’t be wondering where the rest of the house is.”

_ “Eddie, I’m pregnant. That means I can make him do pretty much anything I want - including not touching his damn phone for a few hours while we go out. Besides, he’s got a one track mind while Christmas shopping, and its black friday. You should really be more concerned about how much shit he’s about to buy you and Chris.” _

“Don’t worry Mads, I am.” Eddie mutters, glancing out the window to see if Hen’s car is visible. She said she parked in between two big trucks about a block away, and Buck should be driving the opposite direction, but Eddie is nervous.

The entire one eighteen was instantly on board with Eddie’s plan, but getting them to be quiet about it was predictably difficult. 

See Buck is excitable. But he’s also  _ incredibly  _ perceptive. It’s something Eddie took a long time to understand (and Maddie may have helped him with that too) that Buck picks up on the change in tone, the differing reactions, the body language of everyone he’s close too. The tiniest little shifts in a persons demeanor and Buck notices. 

Eddie...tries not to think about the implications of that. If Buck ever wants to talk to him about it he will. Eddie’s not about to push.

The point here, is that Buck definitely noticed the team being different. They were all a little more...excited, than usual. Or excited that Buck was excited.

Surprising Buck is something of pride for them, because Buck is the master of surprises. He’s the most inconspicuous surprise party planner, the most brilliant gift giver, the single most best person to go to for a pick me up, because he  _ knows. _ Buck is very good at acting like himself, even when he’s not.

(It’s another thing Eddie tries not to think about too much.)

Regardless - the one eighteen has a bad track record of trying to surprise him. He always finds out.

And right now, Eddie thinks they’ve got him. Buck came home a few days before all excited because  _ ‘the house is really into it this year Eddie! I think I even convinced Bobby to go for the giant Christmas tree!’ _

The house  _ has  _ been more excited lately, but mostly in anticipation of surprising Buck. They like to be in the know for once.

So Buck isn’t suspicious right now. But if he sees Hen’s car...or any car he recognizes, after Eddie had to basically yell at him to get out of the house to hang out with Maddie...they’re in trouble. 

Chris is next to him, staring out the window with wide eyes. Buck yells something from the bedroom and Eddie bites back a curse. 

“I gotta go-”

_ “I’m prepped and ready.” _ She says seriously. Eddie hangs up and flops over on the couch like he was watching the random program on TV. Chris just about vaults himself across the room to get into the kitchen just before Buck exits the bedroom, saving himself from a few stern words from Eddie. He knows Eddie won’t say anything about it while Buck is in the room since then he’d have to explain why Chris felt the need to cross the apartment at warp speed.

Out smarted by his own kid, yet again.

“Ta-da!” Buck slides across the hardwood floor in bright red socks and the ugliest green sweater possibly in  _ existence  _ to interrupt Eddie’s thoughts. Chris laughs loudly as Buck struts around the kitchen table and poses in various ridiculous positions. “What do you think? I’m gorgeous, I know, but really does the  _ style  _ match?”

Eddie peers at him over the back of the couch. “It’s burning my eyes.” 

Buck whirls around to face him. “ _ Perfect _ !” He yells, then checks his watch. “Sh- sugar, I’m gonna be late.”

“Buck you need shoes!” Christopher points out, which- yeah, Buck was about to walk out of the house in just his socks. As Buck runs into the bedroom to grab a pair, Eddie meanders his way into the kitchen next to Chris. Buck comes running back out, key and hat in hand and proper footwear on his feet. He hugs Chris and then Eddie and he’s just about out the door when he turns again, eyebrows furrowed. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with? I mean it would be a lot of fun with you guys-”

“Babe,” Eddie steps forward to give him a quick kiss. “I love you, but if you don’t get the hell out of here and over to your sisters house, she’s going to kill you.”

“Yeah Buck!” Christopher moves forward and pushes lightly at Bucks leg. “Dad said pregnant people have really bad mood swings, and yesterday Uncle Chimney said she threatened to hit him with a frying pan. And that’s her boyfriend not her brother.”

Buck actually goes a little pale. “Right. Right yeah I’m going, alright. Love you guys!”

Eddie and Chris both call out goodbyes, and finally get the door shut behind him.

They wait another moment or two, listening to him descend the stairs and get into the car.

Only when he hears the sounds of the engine fade does he hold out a hand. Chris high-fives him without looking. 

“Lets get this started.” Chris says promptly, making Eddie laugh. They both move back to the kitchen. Eddie starts making a big batch of hot chocolate while Chris sits and starts queueing up music.

Fifteen minutes later he gets a text from Maddie.

_ ‘You’ve got four hours.’ _

He grins over at Chris. “It’s go time.”

**…**

“Do not hammer that nail, what is wrong with you? Find a stud- here let me-”

“I know how to do it cap- no-  _ Athena _ , come get your man!”

Eddie’s eyes hurt. 

“The last time I told him to do something construction adjacent I came home to a half demo-ed fire place. I try not to interfere anymore!” The Sargent yells back. She slides a cup of hopefully spiked hot chocolate in front of Eddie while he rubs at his temples. Chim grumbles something mean sounding but it’s drowned out by yet another nail being hammered into the walls of Eddie’s house. 

“Y’all are coming back to take this shit down,” He grumbles, safely out of ear shot of Chris who is busy cutting up paper to make snowflakes. Like the garland and the bows and the gnomes and the santa ornaments and the little red trucks and the figurines and the  _ fifteen miles worth _ of string light were not enough. 

They’re not all going to be plugged in at once. Eddie’s electric bill cannot handle that. Eddie’s eyes cannot handle that.

Athena laughs and promises at least that Bobby and her will find a time to show up. He’s going to need the help - not just with the actual physical act of taking them down, but convincing Buck to take them down.

He figured out why Buck goes absolutely apeshit over Christmas. 

Athena helped him with it this time, pointing out that while for Eddie Christmas was sad because he wasn’t with his family, Buck was happy because he  _ was  _ with his. Maddie confirmed it with a text - Buck doesn’t just love Christmas out of some childhood excitement of gifts, he loves it because it was the one time a year his family would get together. Or better - that his parents wouldn’t fight.

So Eddie got him what he is personally proud of as the best gift he has ever given - a shit ton of Christmas decorations, and family. It’s a surprise party with a ton of decorations.  _ Before  _ December.

The things he does for love.

His phone vibrates. Eddie inhales his drink. 

While he’s sputtering, Athena takes his phone and reads the texts. “Okay people, stop what you’re doing and take you’re places, they’re five minutes out!” She slides a napkin across the counter. “Try not to choke while the entire one eighteen is hiding behind your couch, that would be embarrassing.”

Eddie nods, still hacking although now wiping up the mess he made. He sort of wants to know who shes referring to- embarrassing for him because he’s a firefighter and has medic training and choking on hot chocolate is unbecoming, or embarrassing for the gaggle of first responders behind him who should know what the hell they’re doing.

He doesn’t get to ask though, because five minutes apparently means thirty seconds to Maddie. There’s the sound of a conversation outside the door and Eddie has to run to intercept them in the hallway. Maddie comes through first, winking at Eddie and snatching the mug from his hand.

He’s about to tell her ‘ _ theres alcohol in that _ ’ before Eddie is tackled in a hug from his boyfriend.

“You smell like cookies,” Eddie mumbles into Bucks chest where his face is currently smushed. Buck pulls back for one second, just long enough to give Eddie a kiss before he launches into a tirade about his entire shopping experience. He’s dragging bag after bag inside the door, having apparently done an inordinate amount of Christmas shopping. Hopefully nothing he’s saying is terribly important because he’s speaking so fast Eddie can’t understand a single word he’s saying.

Excited Buck is one of those unstoppable forces in the universe. Eddie, luckily, has some practice controlling it.

“-and then I was thinking I know you didn’t put this one your list but your list is like two things and they're both boring-”

“I- my list is not  _ boring _ , it’s just not done yet!”

Buck shoves what is hopefully the last bag into the hallway and gives him a look. “ _ Socks _ is a boring christmas item, Diaz.”

“Okay well, I bet what I got you is better.”

Buck kicks the door shut. “You got me something.  _ You _ .”

Eddie wants to be offended by his skeptical tone, but he’s right. He can’t keep the smile from his face. “Yes, me.” 

Buck gives him a flat look. Eddie coughs. “And Maddie.”

“Uh huh. Will it be here by Christmas, because I know you, and I know you don’t shop- OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT!?!??””

Eddie can’t help it, he starts laughing. Buck looks like he just saw a dinosaur wander through the kitchen when he really just noticed the garland stringing the railing. 

“Eddie,  _ what- _ ”

He grabs Buck’s hand. “Come here.” He tows his boyfriend down the hall and around the corner where Bucks surprised babbling comes to a stop.

“Holy shit.” Buck whispers. “It’s- you- you  _ decorated!?!? _ ”

Eddie grins. “Oh it gets better.”

“How could this possibly get better!?!?” Buck yells, staring up at the giant christmas tree looking like he could start crying.

Which is great. So when everyone jumps out of their hiding spots to say ‘Surprise!’, Buck  _ shrieks,  _ and then just about jumps into Eddie’s arms to hide.

Eddie doesn’t think Maddie will stop laughing the rest of the night. As it is she and Hen are doubled over, laughing so hard there’s tears in their eyes.

“Merry Christmas.” Eddie manages when he’s managed to control his own giggles. Buck makes an exasperated noise, still clinging to Eddie’s arms. 

“How did you know?” He asks quietly while Chris and Chimney start having an argument over what type of Christmas music to play next. Eddie can’t stop smiling at the undiluted joy on Buck’s face.

“Well I knew you really liked the holiday and I figured out that...it was about family, you know? Like getting to spend time with everyone. And this is the only day all of us had time off, so we figured out how to surprise you.”

Now Buck  _ really  _ looks like he’s about to cry, which was not Eddie’s intention. He panics a little. “Wait, was that bad- I mean your sister was in on it so I assumed you’d like it but if I missed something here-”

“Eddie- shut up.” Buck surges forward to kiss Eddie again, pushing him back up against the wall with the force of it. Everyone yells, a few whistles mixing in with the raucous. 

Eddie decides he likes Christmas a lot more when he gets to spend it like this.

“Ew!!” There’s a yell from their left intermixed with cheers from the adults. “Dad that’s  _ gross _ !”  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> me?? knowing how to do endings??? never.
> 
> hope yall enjoyed! its my first fic in the fandom despite me stalking the tag for the show since it started so im nervous


End file.
